I’ve enjoyed every minute as a barrister and a judge. Two careers. I’ve been privileged.
I didn’t want to be a lawyer. Even when I went to Oxford I didn’t know. I thrashed around, then stumbled into the Bar. I wanted to do something in the real world. My father was always starry-eyed about the Bar. I suspect that came into it too.
You must be logged in to view full premium content.
Taylor Wessing has added to its Warsaw office as 39 Essex Chambers brought in a new arbitrator and the New York Times got a new general counsel this week.
Taylor Wessing announced Pawel Kuglarz as the latest addition to its Warsaw office. Specialising in real estate and restructuring and dispute resolution, Kuglarz joined from Beiten Burkhart/Wolf Theiss, where he worked for over 15 years. Kuglarz is Taylor Wessing’s third appointment in the region in the last four months.
Taylor Wessing CEE managing partner Raimund Cancola said: ‘We have been very successful in pursuing our goal of enhancing our Central and Eastern Europe offering by bringing onboard outstanding lawyers.’
39 Essex Chambers has hired Eversheds of counsel Loretta Malintoppi who will practice as an international arbitrator. She joins chambers from Eversheds where, since 1991, she was a member of the Public International Law and International Arbitration team, first in Paris and then in Singapore since 2012.
The New York Times also appointed its new general counsel (GC) this week in Diane Brayton, as its current top counsel Kenneth Richieri is set to retire at the end of the year.
Brayton has been with the newspaper since 2004, and currently serves as deputy general counsel and corporate secretary, and will take over the new position on 1 January 2017. Prior to the New York Times, she was vice-president and senior counsel at Credit Suisse, having joined from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
Thompson said: ‘Diane’s keen understanding of the legal environment in which The New York Times operates and her broad range of legal and corporate governance expertise make her ideally suited to lead our legal department.
‘She is known across the company not just for her reasoned approach to addressing legal matters but also for her passion for our business and her deeply collaborative spirit. I’m looking forward to continuing what is an already strong partnership.’
georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk
Leading set Thirty Nine Essex Street has yesterday (26 November) announced a major appointment, with Peter Hurst, former Senior Costs Judge of England and Wales at the Royal Courts of Justice, joining as an arbitrator and mediator.
Appointed as Senior Costs Judge in 1992, Hurst held the role until his retirement in September. Since stepping down, he has been instructed in a number of roles as mediator and arbitrator and will now focus on both with respect to costs matters in the UK and internationally at Thirty Nine Essex Street. He will practice from the set with immediate effect.
Hurst is lauded for playing an integral role in Lord Jackson’s highly-publicised costs review where, in his role as an assessor, he travelled to several overseas jurisdictions and was involved in the implementation process with Lord Justice Jackson and Justice Ramsay. He also worked closely with Lord Woolf on the Access to Justice Reforms.
His judicial career spans over thirty years, and previous roles also include the post of Judicial Taxing Officer of the House of Lords from 2002 until 2009.
Chief executive and clerking director David Barnes said: ‘We are thrilled that Peter is joining us. Mediation and arbitration in costs disputes is a growth area both domestically and abroad and Peter’s vast experience as the country’s former Senior Costs Judge will greatly enhance Thirty Nine Essex Street’s offering in this area.’
On his appointment, Hurst added: ‘I am delighted to be joining such a prestigious set as Thirty Nine Essex Street and very much look forward to a close association with them.’
Further expansion by the set this year includes securing a trophy tenant with the arrival of former legal director of Royal Dutch Shell and heavyweight arbitration specialist Peter Rees QC; as well as the opening of its Kuala Lumpur office in October, becoming the first set to do so in Malaysia.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
After three decades in private practice longstanding Ince & Co litigation partner Denys Hickey has re-joined the Bar with a move to Thirty Nine Essex Street Chambers, just weeks after the leading set hired Shell’s former head of legal, Peter Rees QC.
Hickey, a specialist in oil and gas and commodity trading work, started his career as a barrister and was called to the Bar in 1975, requalifying as a solicitor and joining Ince & Co in the late 70s.
He completed a three-year stint in the firm’s Singapore office to head its energy & offshore group for the Asia Pacific region in 2010 before returning to London in 2013.
At 39 Essex Street Hickey’s role will involve practising as counsel, arbitrator and mediator. He will also operate between the set’s offices in London, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, when it officially launches there later this year. The move will constitute the first UK barristers chambers to establish a presence in Malaysia, where it will focus on domestic and international arbitration.
Hickey’s arrival follows the set’s hire in March of former legal director of Royal Dutch Shell Peter Rees QC.
Chief executive and director of clerking, David Barnes, said: ‘We are thrilled that Denys will be joining Thirty Nine Essex Street. He is extremely well regarded in his field and his wealth of experience as counsel and arbitrator will be a fantastic offering for our clients both in the UK and particularly in Asia, where his knowledge and understanding of the market will be invaluable.’
Hickey added: ‘I am delighted to be joining Thirty Nine Essex Street, and look forward to help develop the arbitration and mediation practice. I am particularly looking forward to continuing my practice in Asia, and hope to contribute to the continued growth of both arbitration and mediation in the region.’
Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
It’s been a busy week at Bar but not necessarily for the right reasons. While the Bar Council has appointed its first chief executive in two years, 39 Essex Street has announced it is to take a year out from recruiting pupils for following its merger with 4-5 Gray’s Inn last year. Meanwhile, controversial comments from Hardwicke Chambers’ Barbara Hewson have forced it to distance itself publicly from its own member.
Stephen Crowne will take the lead at the Bar Council on 3 June, filling the chief executive position that has been vacant for two years. Crowne comes from Cisco, where he has been senior director of global education for two years.
Prior to this, he was chief executive of the British Technology & Communications Agency (BECTA) – a government agency promoting IT in education – for five years before it was shut down by the Government in 2011.
The Bar Council said that its decision to appoint a new chief executive reflects its wish to have strong leadership to ensure it remains fit for purpose, both financially and in serving the needs of the Bar.
Crowne’s new role will be to facilitate the operations of the Council’s policy-making committees and to support the development of its strategy and the fulfillment of its approved regulator role.
Maura McGowan QC, chairman of the Council, said: ‘We are delighted that Stephen has agreed to take up the role of chief executive. He joins the Bar Council at a time of great change for the profession.
‘His experience in the Civil Service at senior levels and more recently in business will help us as an organisation to address the challenges of the diverse and complex environment in which the profession’s governing body operates and enable us meet the needs of the profession and its clients more effectively.’
Meanwhile 39 Essex Street has announced that it is to suspend intake of pupils for the year 2014-2015 in response to an over-supply of juniors as a result of its tie-up with 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square last year.
24 members of 4-5 Gray’s Inn moved to 39 Essex Street in November 2012, including seven silks, one pupil who had just been made tenant, a third six pupil and one other pupil. One other pupil will be taken on from 4-5 Gray’s Inn for this pupillage year.
David Barnes, chief executive and director of clerking, said: ‘The decision is only very short-term. Recruiting 24 new barristers is quite a lot to integrate in a short space of time. We will be reinstigating the pupillage as soon as possible.’
Charles Cory-White QC, joint-head of pupillage, said that the decision had been made in fairness to both future pupils and those juniors currently working in chambers.
‘As in any chambers there is a limited amount of work at the junior end and we have a strong policy where we do not recruit people as pupils unless we are able to guarantee that we could take them on,’ he said.
A statement on the chambers’ website added: ‘This decision neither impacts upon nor is any reflection of concerns about, recruitment to tenancy from this year or next year’s crop of pupils, in relation to whom the position remains as before.’
In other news, one barrister made national headlines last week as she controversially criticised Operation Yewtree, the police investigation into allegations facing media figures in the wake of evidence emerging last year of abuse by deceased TV presenter Jimmy Savile.
Hardwicke Chambers barrister Barbara Hewson – in a post on online publication Spiked – launched her attack on the investigation following the prosecution of presenter Stuart Hall for sex offences.
In an opening passage, Hewson wrote: ‘I do not support the persecution of old men. The manipulation of the rule of the law by the Savile Inquisition…and its attendant zealots poses a far graver threat to society than anything Jimmy Savile ever did.’
She later describes Operation Yewtree as a disproportionate response to relatively minor offences and concludes the piece with: ‘As for law reform, now regrettably necessary, my recommendations are: remove complainant anonymity; introduce a strict statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and civil actions and reduce the age of consent to 13.’
Hardwicke Chambers released a statement soon after expressing its shock and disassociating itself from the views expressed by Hewson.
For more comment on Hewson’s post, click here.
Francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk
